N.C. Spending Gap Continues To Widen, Study Finds

The gulf between North Carolina's richest and poorest school
districts is widening despite an effort by the legislature to close the
gap, a recent study of local school finance says.

The difference between what wealthy and poor counties spend on their
students has risen to more than $1,000, according to the report by the
Public School Forum in Raleigh. Looking solely at local funds, the 10
wealthiest counties spend $1,441 per student and the bottom 10 spend
$431 this year, the study found.

A special fund for small and poor school systems enacted by the
legislature in 1991 has generated $41 million to narrow disparities,
but once the state help is portioned out, it amounts to only $37 more
per student a year for poor districts, the report says.

"The gap continues to widen year after year," said John Dornan, the
executive director of the forum, a statewide citizens' group. "Poorer
counties are having to tax themselves at a rate that would lead to
rebellion in wealthier counties." But they still don't reach the
revenue levels of affluent counties.

Poorer counties have smaller tax bases from which to draw
property-tax revenue. To meet school budgets, residents often have to
pay at a substantially higher tax rate than in well-to-do districts,
but the poor districts still raise less money.

The report found that 70 of the state's 100 counties fall below the
state average for adjusted property-tax wealth per student. Moreover,
in the 10 richest counties, the amount of taxable property wealth per
student rose by more than $15,000 last year, to $554,349. The same
figure for the 10 poorest counties dropped $714 per student last year,
to $152,424.

The list of North Carolina's wealthiest counties includes major
cities and retirement communities, while its poorest counties are
heavily dominated by rural towns in the eastern part of the state and
mountain communities to the west.

Inequities play out in all facets of education, Mr. Dornan said.
Poor districts have dire facilities needs and often offer only a
bare-bones curriculum without advanced math and science courses,
up-to-date technology, and foreign language programs.

"The differences are stark," he said.

Constitutional Challenge

The findings come on the eve of a long-awaited decision from the
state supreme court over whether a lawsuit challenging the state's
finance system will go to trial.

The suit--brought by five poor counties in May 1994--seeks to throw
out a system that the plaintiffs contend shortchanges students and does
not provide the "general and uniform system of free public schools"
promised in the state constitution.

"The people have a right to the privilege of education," the North
Carolina Constitution says, "and it is the duty of the state to guard
and maintain that right."

Soon after filing the lawsuit, the plaintiffs were joined by a
coalition of the state's largest school systems, which contend that the
finance system is as unfair for large, urban districts as it is for
poorer, rural ones.

Similar lawsuits and subsequent court rulings in other states have
forced lawmakers from New Jersey to Montana to overhaul their school
finance systems.

State school officials concede that funding disparities in North
Carolina do exist, but say that in recent years state agencies have
been moving to address the needs of poorer counties.

"We're all pushing for more resources" for needy schools, said
Philip Price, the assistant director for school business for the North
Carolina education department. He said the state's finance system is
unlike those of other states. Because 70 percent of overall school
funds come from the state, the deviation from rich to poor districts is
smaller than in other states.

The system, Mr. Price said, "has changed a lot since the lawsuit was
filed in 1991. It's almost not comparable to when we started."

A $1.8 billion school facilities bond on this week's state ballot
would distribute facilities money partly based on wealth--another step
toward equity, backers said.

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